Day 6 - Gorham, IL to Cairo, IL

We started day 6 in a confused fashion in Gorham, an almost deserted town, close to the Bottoms Up restaurant where we ended day 5.  It was a gloomy day with mist again and the sun's location was a mystery, so how did we know we were going north instead of south as specified on the cue sheet?  As a result, we earned several bonus miles to add to our planned 66 mile ride.

As we cruised south feeling damp and chilled, we could see clouds hanging on the river bluff to the east.  The Big Muddy River lies at the base of the bluff in this area, and maybe that is why we are on a road nearer Big Muddy.  Heavy rains of the past few days are evident in the image and these have stopped the furious harvesting activity we had been witnessing.

After a quick tour of the town of Grand Tower, right on the Mississippi behind massive levees, we angle across the bottoms for our brief visit to Trail of Tears State Forest and Shawnee National Forest.  The hills in the forest made us do some sweating...a change of pace after spending so much time in bottomland.  Then we linked up with IL 127 and stopped in Jonesboro for lunch in a neat little cafe that sported a lot of maps and shelves full of interesting books.  The server was envious of our trip and wanted to join us.

Heading south on IL 127 the rain came more earnestly.  Soon we were dripping but the temperature was high enough that this was OK.  It is a unique feeling to get sprayed heavily on the back by all the water thrown up by the rear tier and to feel is soaking your britches and seeping down your back and beyond. The front tire does a great job on your front side.  The roads south were less hilly than expected.  By the time we got to Olive Branch Road and the town of Mounds the rain had ended and it was getting steamy.  Soon we were at our Days Inn on the outskirts of Cairo. 

Searching for supper we visited the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.  It is very impressive!  These are two huge and powerful rivers.  A tour of Cairo left me depressed. In the late 60s it was apparently a town of 30,000.  Race riots, I-57, loss of industrial employment have left it a struggling community of about 2,700 now.  The old down-town area looks like a war zone, abandoned and falling down.  But we did manage to find a little restaurant that had a catfish and chicken special that we enjoyed.  Stimulating discussions with long time locals ensued.